Nobody’s Home
by Kaleidoscope
Summary: Sirius has more of the Blacks in his blood than anyone imagines…The Slytherins are not as coldblooded as everyone thinks. It’s a time when Rainzzi realises the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters, it’s rather a matter of degree…
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: With no further ado, please enjoy. One request though, whether you like it or not, please review and tell me how you think of it. Thanks a millions!_

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Nobody's Home  
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It was a rainy day, nearly all the sunlight was blocked away by the heavy clouds. And inside the ancient castle located on an isolated island in North Britain, a bunch of cloaked figures were having their History lessons. The shining words written on the blackboard at the front of the classroom indicated that the time period discussed was 1939-1945. However, the students were neither being taught Adolf Hitler's Nazism nor Benito Mussolini's Fascism during the Second World War, but the Purges pursued by someone called Grindelwald, a wizard highly unknown to the Muggles.

Some sleepy yawns, accompanied by the scratching of quills could be heard throughout the classroom. It seemed that most students could do with a nice nap, and the ghostly Professor sounded on the edge of falling asleep too. Sirius Black was among the minority which was still wide awake, tilting his chair on two legs and lounging at his ease, all the while glancing around with a nonchalant expression.

Besides him, James Potter was busy peeking at the other side of the classroom where a certain redhead was engaged in an intense conversation with a Gryffindor girl. Brows knitted together and eyes narrowed, he ran his hand through his rumpled hair every now and then distastefully. Sirius chuckled; he knew better than to mess with James at such times, and James was always unentertaining when he was in a Lily-gaga anyway.

On the other side of him, Peter Pettigrew who had fallen asleep ten minutes into the lessons was drooling heavily on his book while Remus Lupin was listening intently with a slight frown on his exhausted face and jotting important points down.

He sat back at his seat and stared at the blackboard quietly, not really thinking about anything in particular for a few moments before the pictures published on the front page of Daily Prophet he just read earlier that morning rose up in his mind. More deaths. It was unsurprising in itself but evidently it was getting out of control, it shocked everyone that the family that made the headline was the Lytteltons, a family almost as deep-rooted in the wizarding world as the Blacks. His mind drifted off to the conversation he had with Uncle Alphard just a few days ago in the Diagon Ally. The massacre of largest scale ever just taken place on the night prior to that. They talked about it. Eventually Sirius asked Uncle Alphard, who had devoted half of his life in the St. Mungo's Hospital, whether he was immune to any emotions of seeing deaths after witnessing so many before. It was aimed as a casual question but Sirius couldn't forget the dirty look he got from his favourite uncle. The reproachful tone in which Uncle Alphard made his answer was foreign to Sirius and it still popped up in his mind every now and then.

Sirius fumbled in his pocket and pulled out something. He removed the sheath, revealing a bronze blade, then began carving letters on the wooden desk. The letters were deeply engraved on the desk but the moment he finished the word, the word disappeared. Sirius stabbed the knife into the wooden table again, then pulled it out, and watched in astonishment as the fissure automatically sealed itself, leaving no trace of the destruction.

"If Hogwarts can make itself invisible to the Muggles, you can expect it is also immune to Muggle ways of destructions," said Remus, eventually putting his quill down, as he knew if he didn't pay his friend any attention sooner or later, Sirius would probably be the first to end up in a detention for blowing up the castle.

"I know, I was just experimenting. I need something to distract me from the fact that we're sharing this lesson with Slytherins," Sirius said, appraising the desk with his fingertips. "Come to think of it, we used to have History with the Ravenclaws. Why all our lessons are arranged to be shared with the Slytherins this year is far beyond my reasoning."

He glanced over at the Slytherins who were seated behind the second table in front of them. Alecto Carrow and Vanessa Yaxley were giggling between themselves with their heads knitted together. His cousin Narcissa was engaged in a conversation with a pale, brown-haired Slytherin girl, Rainzzi Delanuit, who was nodding occasionally without much enthusiasm, her cheek on the palms, her thoughts seemed to be on anything but Narcissa's words.

Remus shrugged, "What with Voldemort and the Death Eaters taking over everywhere, it's only a matter of time before he lays his eyes on Hogwarts and starts recruiting from within. Perhaps Dumbledore is trying to maintain a check-and-balance on the Slytherins, and probably in hope of some inter-house unification."

"Getting along with Snivellus? I don't think so," Sirius stated in an exaggerated tone. "Now seriously," he added, fixing Rainzzi's back with an intense stare as she brushed away a strand of hair from her eyes, "I think Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin would both turn in their graves if we actually start acting friendly to each other."

Remus followed Sirius's glance thoughtfully. "But there are always exceptional cases."

"Majority never changes," Sirius shrugged, but his expression hardened as his glance landed on Narcissa. "Honestly, I would be really surprised if Bellatrix isn't already among the Death Eaters' higher rank. She has been so crazily obsessed with this pureblood mania all along, and Rodolphus Lestrange is just as lunatic as she is." At this point, James finally turned his glance to his best friends curiously, he only knew about Bellatrix through Sirius's description as she was already out of school when they joined Hogwarts. "The first time I saw them together was back at their wedding, and it took only a few minutes to convince everyone that the chemistry between them is going to make them ten times each more destructive. Obviously they are incapable of loving anyone other than Voldemort, but they are a perfect match in a sense that they share the same insanity and they understand each other."

"Do you think she is already a Death Eater as well?" James jerked his head towards Narcissa.

"Narcissa? I doubt so. It won't be long before Narcissa gets her own Dark Mark though, judging from the lot she is close to. But I guess she will not commit herself until when Voldemort's power becomes more consolidated and recognized, because she lacks the determination and unconditional faith that distinguish Bellatrix."

"You know what, Sirius?" said James mildly, "Sometimes I still have problems believing that you're actually related to Bellatrix Lestrange."

Sirius made a sardonic laugh, "I bet with a thousand galleons that my mother have already blasted my name off from the family tree at Grimmauld Place on the same day I ran away, much like the time when she blasted Andromeda's name off when Meda got married to a Muggle-born. So practically, Bellatrix and the rest of them are not my family anymore."

Sirius could see from the corners of his eyes that James and Remus exchanged surreptitious glance but he decided to pretend as if he didn't see anything. Despite his openness to discuss about his family among the Marauders, he always kept the conversation rid of emotions because it still frustrated him to talk in depths.

Sirius wouldn't act as if he had never liked his parents. After all, who hadn't been once ignorant and obedient in their childhood? He had tended to think his parents were the best of adults, like what every other child had. But his admiration for them didn't last long. From the way his parents had always kept him away from people whom they considered as inferior, he had known at an early age how much his parents prided themselves over their pureblood heritage. He had been surrounded only by people from the blueblood society then, and he was left with no opportunity to get to know the magical world in reality. At first he was untroubled by his parents' discriminative behaviour, but when he grew older, he started to discover the darker sides of their parents and their peculiar taste for dark magic had eventually appalled him.

From that time on, while not challenging his parents head-on, he showed tendency of a divergent stance. However, it wasn't until he started schooling at Hogwarts where he was introduced to a complete different magical population that he started to rebel against his parents. He had tried to make them see sense from his point of view but to as much avail as his parents tried to indoctrinate him with the importance of purity of blood. Time passed as the alienation from his parents grew stronger and stronger. He could tell that his parents had assumed in early years that his rebelliousness was a temporary act brought forth by adolescence but when it persisted, his parents tried to make him compromise by extremes. They even liaised with Professor Dumbledore in an attempt to have him resorted into Slytherins. While his parents could easily bribe their way into the Ministry to have whatever they wanted, Sirius was grateful that Professor Dumbledore was stubborn and unyielding in his polite rejection of their request.

When he later thought about all these years again, Sirius was astonished by the breadth of his own tolerance of the Blacks. He couldn't reason how he had endured all those torturing years but he could remember clearly the crushing force that had shattered the last bit of respect he might have for his parents at the moment the Blacks expressed their support of Voldemort.

Stretching his arms, Sirius met the glare of Severus Snape, a greasy Slytherin who seemed to have nothing better to do than to keep trying to gather ammunition to get them expelled. Snape withdrew his glare when Sirius glared back with the equivalent loathing, after shooting him a meaningful smirk, as if he knew something confidential.

Remus pretended unconcerned as James interchanged a look with Sirius. Ever since the fatal Whomping Willow incident last year, in which Snape might have died if James hadn't pulled him out of the tunnel at the last minute, Remus had been trying his best to avoid any kind of encounter with Snape. And dangerous pranks-pulling of Snape had become quite a taboo among the Marauders.

"God, it's so tempting," Sirius sighed dramatically. He moved closer to Remus and read his notes, shaking his head dubiously. "What's all this shit about?" he said, as he felt around.

"The Grindelwald War," said Remus, stating the obvious.

"I don't know why you still bother to jot notes," Sirius's hand found what he needed; he shifted slightly and passed it to James under the table. "It's not like you don't know all of it."

"I know all of it because I jot notes," Remus said, totally oblivious of anything unusual, "You've mixed up the causality."

Sirius shrugged and sat back casually after he heard an incantation made besides him, feeling light-hearted and expectant. He tilted his chair back on its two legs to get a better view of Severus Snape. A mischievous smirk crept into his face as he caught sight of the little fire finding its way up from the hem of Snape's cloak. Judging by the fierceness of the fire, it would spread to the end of his hair in no more than a few seconds. And Snape might get an explosion if he was lucky enough, as the grease and oil on his hair would probably turn an accomplice against him.

Unfortunately, the flame was perceived almost at the same time as the imagined picture of Snape getting an explosion on the head visualized in Sirius's mind. "You're on fire, Snape!" someone shrieked loudly, waking everybody up.

All of a sudden, people were receding away from Snape as if he had got an infectious disease. Lily Evans got out her wand, and before Professor Binns could turn around, she had pointed her wand at him, yelling authoritatively, "Unda!"

In a nanosecond's time, Snape was drenched from head to toe, standing there and looking silly in his burnt cloak. Though the fire was extinguished, the rotten smell hadn't quite left him. There was a flabbergasted silence as a thread of burnt hair fell from the back of his head, but then some guy broke out laughing hard, and everyone gradually joined in.

"What's happened?" Professor Binns asked cluelessly with the least bit of annoyance of the interruption. He looked at Snape for an explanation.

"It's Black and Potter!" Snape accused agitatedly, pointing his finger at the two Gryffindor who had been sitting at their seats very quietly.

"We didn't do anything, Snivellus," Sirius said calmly, eyeing him with falsified exhaustion.

"It has got to be you two!" Snape almost spat at them. Somehow Professor Binns was looking at Sirius and James amazedly; they were famous for talking out of the punishments for their pranks.

"We can check their wands for proofs," Lucius Malfoy suggested.

Appearing unconcerned and bored, Sirius and James handed him their wands fearlessly. The audience held their breaths as he raised his own wand and placed it tip-to-tip with James', "Prior Incantato!" But it was just a repairing spell; Snape's face was flinching furiously. When the replica of a levitating spell was conjured from Sirius's wand, the Gryffindors actually started applauding.

The bell rang before Snape could utter another word. Darting a quick glance at Snivellus, Sirius caught James' eyes and gave an inward smirk. Without so much as an apologetic nod at Snape, they swept the books into their arms and darted out of the History classroom indomitably. Looking at the way they walked out of the classroom, one would think they had never entered any forbidden land in their whole lives.

Remus and Peter jogged behind to catch up with their fellow Marauders. "It's brilliant," Peter praised, wiping the drooling marks on his bottom face, "It's so brilliant. Snivellus' got to have a haircut."

Sirius and James exchanged a glinting smirk but both of them said nothing. Remus swiftly glanced around the corridor. "How did you two manage it without using your wands?" he interrogated.

Raising his eyebrows in innocence, Sirius replied, "You're the bad guy, didn't you realize, Remus?"

James smiled slyly at Remus. He slowed down his pace for a bit so that he could walk with Remus side-by-side. "Check your wand," said James in a chortle.

Thunderstruck, Remus was producing the imprint of the last spell his wand had conjured when a high-pitched scornful laugh echoed throughout the corridor and interrupted them from behind. Perhaps it was not that audible after all, it was just a short laugh that could easily be mistaken as a sarcastic laugh at an off-color joke but Sirius could recognize the voice instantaneously. He had nearly lost track of the number of times he had heard that laugh directed at him. He gestured for his friends to stay out of it while he took a few steps backwards before he turned around.

"What, Pureblood Narcissa?" Sirius said, with an arrogant snicker forming in the corners of his lips.

Narcissa continued proceeding until she was right in front of him, unaccompanied by her fellow Slytherins. The Black cousins, both having inherited the trademark good looks from their family, stared daringly at each other with eyes of the same shade of grey. It was difficult to convince people at Hogwarts that they had once been very close as cousins as they were born to the Black families within months.

"I was just thinking that clearly Sirius Black hasn't sunk low enough yet," said Narcissa aggressively, wrinkling her brows and eying Sirius's companion with a nauseate expression. "Befriending Muggle-borns and shabby lots, that's not good for you."

"I can see you are befriending Death Eater Wannabes," said Sirius. "I would rather think by now it's pretty obvious that we have very diverse opinions over what is good and what is bad."

"What is good then, Sirius?" asked Narcissa pointedly. "Handpicking Severus Snape as an archenemy randomly and tormenting him for fun?"

Sirius nodded, "Yes. That's good for the public."

Narcissa faked a shrill laugh. "I heard about what you said to Aunt Walburga. Trying to be unique, aren't you? You pride yourself over the little brilliance of yours and you act as if you don't care about the purity of your blood just because you're already born with it. But you seemed to have forgotten that your talent and the purity of your blood are something you have unthankfully inherited from your parents, haven't you?"

"If talent is something I have inherited from the Blacks, then I don't see how you're related to them. You don't even know how to think independently." He sneered some more as Narcissa's facial expression tensed. He took a step closer, towering his cousin with his predominant height, and looked down on her. "You talk big, Narcissa. But you are not half as capable as you may think."

Narcissa hissed at him, "You'll be surprised by what I'm capable of."

"Sure," Sirius shrugged, evidently unconvinced.

For a moment, Narcissa looked like she would have left the heated conversation there, but decided against it at a second thought. "And I'll wait for the day when you finally realize the horrible mistakes you've made by running away from your parents and beg on your knees for their forgiveness."

"Yeah," Sirius snickered coldly. "Probably when hell freezes over. I hope you really enjoy the waiting process." He gave her another patronizing glance before he strode back to where his friends were waiting for him. Sirius kept the snicker on his handsome face until they were out of sight of the blonde Slytherin. To think that he would ever regret about leaving the Black family was ridiculous. But it didn't really turn his determination down, it always gave Sirius the satisfaction to prove people's perception of him wrong.

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_A/N: **PLEASE REVIEW!** And tell me honestly if this piece is any improvement from the previous one ;) Please!_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you reviewers :) Your comments are always appreciated!

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****Chapter 2****  
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With the candlelight being the only source of light, the ceiling of the Great Hall was of a dull, velvety black with heavy clouds looming in the background. Once or twice during the dinner, the fake ceiling was illuminated by transient sparks of blinding white light and all the chatters in the Hall died away almost instantaneously. The students looked up at the sky in unison and the teaching staffs were seen interchanging pointed looks with each other.

Some of the students glanced sideways at their copies of the Evening Prophet which had been distributed halfway through the dinner thoughtfully; unless some unlucky fellows received the Ministry's notification of the losses of their families, they could only find out whether the source of blinding white light was from a hovering Dark Mark from the Daily Prophet to be delivered tomorrow in the morning. The animated chatters in the Hall scattered remarkably after the students glanced up at the ceiling for the second time that night. But the Slytherins' table was less influenced by the ominous sparks than those of the other houses.

"Nope, I wasn't living in Bulgaria. I have been living in Rumania ever since I was born," Stefan Tsepeth, the seventh year transfer student from Drumstrang was saying to Lucius Malfoy and Eric Avery in accented English. "Of course it'd better if I go to a magical institution in Rumania, but there just isn't any good and decent one. And Drumstrang is so famous a school that I sincerely wanted to attend despite the geographical distance…"

"So where do your parents…" Lucius began but Tsepeth cut him short. "My parents died when I was one." Tsepeth stated.

"I am sorry to hear that," said Avery, sounding not at all sympathetic.

Rainzzi Delanuit peeked at Stefan Tsepeth from the corners of her eyes from time to time, but ever so strangely, almost with hostility. It was not like she held anything against Stefan Tsepesh; in fact, she didn't even have any reason to, for he seemed to be a very cultivated and talkative fellow. She couldn't quite comprehend from where the hard feeling stemmed but something about him was just not right. And it was weird that, given he had just been transferred from Drumstrang and sorted into Slytherin on the previous night, she already thought that he somehow looked familiar. He gave her an impression of someone she had once been acquainted in her earlier childhood but had never met for a second time.

As she continued to stare at Tsepeth, she caught the eyes of Rabastan Lestrange, who looked bored by the conversation between Lucius's gang and the ex-Drumstrang. Rainzzi managed to force a little smile at his grimace before she turned away and stared with a sudden interest at the food that Narcissa had shoved to her. She forked the lasagna which she had been toying with and then put it down on the plate again for several times. Rainzzi shook her head as Alecto Carrow and Vanessa Yaxley motioned to leave the Hall.

"Cissy," Rainzzi said to Narcissa thoughtfully once Carrow and Yaxley were out of earshot. "Do you think Bellatrix was in love with Princeps?"

The question seemed to have taken Narcissa by surprise. "Yes, of course she was. Bella had been dating your brother for almost two years before she broke up with him," replied Narcissa matter-of-factly.

"I noticed that Bellatrix did not attend Princeps's funeral," stated Rainzzi in a barely audible whisper. "Even Andromeda came to the funeral after your parents left."

"They had a hard time when they broke up for the last time I suppose," Narcissa put down the butterbeer mug and took a deep breath. "As I told you, she locked herself up in her bedroom for three days in a row, not eating and talking to anyone at all. A few days later she emerged from her bedroom and the first thing that she said to my parents was to accept the Lestranges's proposal. I think she really loved him but she hated him equally as much too."

Rainzzi glanced at Narcissa quietly as she considered Narcissa's words. Princeps had spoken very little of Bella lately, but Rainzzi knew that he had maintained a complicated relationship with Bella through the years after their last breakup. It wasn't until she was engaged to Rodolphus Lestrange one year ago that their relationship turned sour. Princeps and Rainzzi had attended Bellatrix and Rodolphus's wedding banquet together then and Princeps had had a private word with Bella in the bridal room. Despite the pleasant smile Princeps had worn throughout the function, Rainzzi couldn't help noticing her brother's uncharacteristically harsh demeanor in the days to ensue.

"Do you think Bellatrix has become a death eater?" said Rainzzi with a harassed expression after a long pause.

With the Dark Lord rising consistently in power and gaining popularity within the pureblood community, there were rumors the descendents of quite a number of respectable wizarding names had made their ways to the inner circle of the Death Eaters. Fanatical of the ideology of purification of the wizarding race and prodigious in abilities, Bellatrix Lestrange would not surprise anyone if she was revealed to be one of the most devoted supporters of the Dark Lord.

Rainzzi would not care if Bella was a Death Eater but she had suspected all along that it was Bellatrix's identity as a Death Eater and Princeps's identity as an Auror that had caused the ultimate breakup. Even though Princeps never mentioned Bella ever again after her wedding day, Rainzzi felt angry at Bellatrix Lestrange for antagonizing her brother in his late days.

"I honestly don't know. Between Bella, Meda and me, that's a taboo, you know." Narcissa looked at her cautiously. "So any news on the investigation from the Chief?"

Rainzzi shook her head shortly. "I didn't hear a word from him since I returned to Hogwarts. I suppose rebuilding his prestige within the Ministry is of a much higher priority than keeping in touch with his daughter."

"The Chief" was the nickname that Rainzzi and Narcissa used among themselves to refer to William Delanuit, Rainzzi's father who worked in the Ministry of Magic as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

The sudden death of Princeps Delanuit, who had been a rising talent in the Auror Office, in July had come as a heavy blow to both the Chief and the Auror Office. In such times of wars and disorder, deaths were not astonishing in themselves. However, although every sign of the field where Princeps's dead body was located pointed to the conclusion that he was killed with dark magic, the body was peculiarly free from the Dark Mark when it was found. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was eager to shatter the conspiracy theories that had emerged following the high-profile death of a prominent member of their Auror Office, but so far investigation of the motives behind the tragic event and identification of the murderer had been unsuccessful.

Rainzzi hugged her arms protectively as her mind drifted off to the moments when the Chief held her tight in an embrace, stroking her hair and patting her back as she cried in his chest after Princeps's funeral. They shared a bedtime chat on the balcony on that night, smiling and crying together in reminisces of their time with Princeps. But the scarce demonstration of fatherly love diminished on the following day when the Chief returned to office.

Narcissa patted on the back of her hand as Rainzzi blinked away the moist in her eyes. "Let's go," said Rainzzi as she became aware of the glances of several fifth-year Slytherins.

As they made their way to the entrance of the Great Hall, Rainzzi shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her cloak and stared determinedly ahead, letting a strand of hair falling into one of her eyes to avoid direct eye contact. But she was soon yanked out of her mental solitary as someone from behind bumped into her shoulder almost premeditatedly and strode to the entrance ahead of them.

She looked up in irritation and found herself meeting Sirius Black's backward glance. A flicker of recognition passed between them and quickly transpired.

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James kicked open the door to the heavily scented and fogged Divination Classroom and strode inside with Sirius on his side. Expecting Professor Evangeline to welcome them with predictions of them dying in the queerest ways, Sirius interchanged a questioning look with James as they took note of the solemn atmosphere in the classroom.

James swept a fair stock of teapots onto the floor intentionally as they made their way to the back of the classroom but Professor Evangeline didn't seem to have noticed their arrivals. She was too busy fixing Stefan Tsepeth in an intense stare with her magnified eyes behind her inch-think glasses and the rest of the students followed the aged professor's glance. "Pardon me, Mr…"

"Tsepeth," the Drumstrang transfer student answered politely.

"Pardon me, Mr. Tsepeth?" Evangeline said as Sirius and James settled in the armchairs besides Remus and Peter.

"What's happening?" James asked Remus curiously. But Remus silenced him.

"Can you divine which of us will be the next one to die?" Tsepeth looked back at Evangeline innocently as he repeated his question.

"Gentleman, I can see that you're clearly ungifted in this context." Evangeline looked almost offended but her complexion brightened up at the student's uncommon display of genuine interest. "Now I ask you all, what will you do if you're told that you're divined to die in a week?"

"Do all it takes to prevent it from happening, of course," Lily spoke up matter-of-factly, glancing across the classroom for agreements. Sirius grinned when James caught her eyes by giving her the thumbs-up but she just threw him a furrow.

Evangeline shook her head and turned her attention to the Slytherin boys who had been mocking the psychical tone in Evangeline's voice and sneering among themselves. "Mr. Malfoy?"

For a moment it looked as though Lucius Malfoy, who narrowed his eyes distastefully, wasn't going to respond but Evangeline waited. "I won't give a damn," snapped Malfoy eventually, looking away as Evangeline's stare intensified.

"Complete denial," concluded Evangeline briefly. Sirius's glance followed the aged professor as she approached the tables where the Ravenclaw girls were seated in the front. "What about you, Miss Bonham?"

"I suppose there's nothing I could do. Is there?" said Constance Bonham solemnly. Sirius observed as Bonham shifted uncomfortably under Evangeline's stare. The Revanclaw girl clearly wanted to avoid direct eye contact with Evangeline as rumors had it that the thick spectacles that made up Evangeline's glasses were actually two crystal balls, such that when she glanced through the spectacles, she could actually see past the present form of the target to their futures.

"Miss Bonham's response reflects the most common answer – to do nothing based on the belief that nothing can be done to change the future," said Evangeline, then surprisingly she shook her head yet again. "In such cases the prophecy may fall as a self-fulfilling one."

"A self-fulfilling prophecy?" murmured James with a perplexed expression.

"Depending on the subject's reception of the prophecy made, the same prophecy can see a variety of different ends," Evangeline continued dreamily, once she reached the podium. "And this is where the paradox of Divination lies. If a strong-willed person can change the divined future, how can you ever prove that the divination is a real one and the divined future will otherwise come true if he does nothing to change it? Conversely, if the divined future does come true for a die-hard believer, how can you prove that the believer hasn't fallen into the trap of a self-fulfilling prophecy by sub-consciously feeding back to the prophecy?"

Sirius sat back in his chair and glanced heavenwards, deep in his thoughts. How would he face a prophecy of death? At the first thought, he regarded Lily's answer as the only answer for all truly Gryffindors – to do all it takes to change the future for the better. But at a second thought, he also saw senses in Evangeline's words about self-fulfilling prophecies.

"Divination is truly a profound magical study, an art." Sirius looked up as Evangline raised her voice and clapped her hands, clashing the ancient bangles she was wearing together as she did, to summon an official-looking piece of parchment. "Last year, the Wizarding Education Department has proposed to abandon the Divination curriculum because the subject is 'losing its grip' as some intellectuals called it, which I think is the most irresponsible and unreasonable action. Luckily, it has been objected. But the N.E.W.T. Divination practical examination was largely reformed, and thus would be a bit different this year…"

Evangeline came to a halt at the Marauders' table and carelessly put down the parchment, which, as Sirius observed, was a name list.

"In addition to the usual practical exam in next June, you'll also have to be paired in two and do a project throughout the semester. The dictated theme of the project is Astrology, which we've covered last year. Together with your partner, you'll be assigned to a famous wizard or witch and will be given a picture of the planet positions taken when the person is born and another picture at their death; all you have to do is to explain and analyze how the particular positions of the planets and stars influenced their lives and achievements…Some of these wizards and witches had allegedly learnt of the astrological predictions that have been made of them. For these cases, you should also study if such predictions have in some way or other shaped their later lives."

All the names were already sorted by alphabetical order and were written in black solid ink. Sirius found his name at the top of the list, right below the name of his cousin. James stared at it in concentration, and with a surreptitious smirk all the content was altered as he snapped his fingers.

As Evangeline took up the parchment, an unmistakable mist of surprise flogged her eyes for a second, but she wouldn't let her perplexity last long. "I knew you would try to change it, Mr. Potter," said Evangeline cheerfully. James growled in desperation as Evangeline began reading names in random.

"Lily Evans and Stefan Tsepeth –

"James Potter and Lucius Malfoy –

"Narcissa Black and Constance Bonham –

"Sirius Black and Rainzzi Delanuit…"

The Divination textbook which Rainzzi Delanuit had been flipping through idly slipped from her hands but she managed to catch the book before it hit the marble floor. Sirius watched as she exchanged a furrow with Narcissa as Narcissa growled under her breath, "A bloody half-blood Ravenclaw."

"Now, go to your partner when I distribute the photos to you," said Professor Evangeline, disregarding the indignant grumbles from nearly every student.

"Totally your cup of tea," murmured Rainzzi ironically as Constance Bonham made her way to the Slytherin girls with every sign of reluctance. Sirius caught the stare of his partner as Rainzzi scanned the classroom dispassionately. With the slightest motion of his hand, he motioned her to a vacant table on his side.

Sirius leaned forward and stopped her as Rainzzi reached for the adjacent chair.

"You could ask for a regrouping if the challenge of working with me is too much for you," Sirius said aggressively. "No hard feeling I promise you."

"Don't overstate yourself," Rainzzi said frostily, eyeing the vacant chair which then sprang forward from Sirius's grip on its accord, "nothing appears to me as less of a challenge than you do."

His mouth nearly twitching into a smile, Sirius observed her appearance in profile as she sat down and snatched the picture from the Professor. As James had fairly commented, although Rainzzi Delanuit was not stunning in the same way as Pureblood Narcissa, she was good-looking in an approachable way with a mild sense of supremacy that went well with her cool countenance. But something about her had changed since he last saw her in close-up. Her eyes, which he used to describe as a rare mix of sapphire and turquoise, had turned into an unlively shade of blue. Sirius observed in amusement as her expression turned from one of coolness to irritation when she became conscious of his attention.

"Delanuit, what would you do if you're divined to die in a few days?" Sirius asked conversationally.

"What would _you_ do if you were the subject of the prophecy, Black?" Rainzzi looked sideward at him.

Sirius had considered the questions when Evangeline boasted about the beauty of Divination. "I suppose I wouldn't want to be told about the content of prophecy if I have a choice. I prefer maintaining the uncertainties to knowing about the future in advance because it will confine my actions. I wouldn't run the risk of being manipulated by Fate." Sirius shrugged. "Now tell me what you would do."

Rainzzi had obviously considered the same question. "I think I would try to make my death worthy."

Sirius raised his brows in sheer curiosity but she had already turned her attention back to the picture.

Gone were the days when Rainzzi and Sirius could talk about almost everything. They had been acquainted at an early stage of childhood through Bellatrix and Princeps at around the same time as Rainzzi was introduced to Narcissa. Having both been raised in ancient renowned pureblood wizarding families, their perception of the general wizarding world had been very much biased and contained by their limited access to the wizarding population at large.

They were young and innocent then. Rainzzi had admired him for his brilliance and his courage to speak up and Sirius had in turn demonstrated a fondness of Rainzzi for her decency to the inferiors.

They had begun schooling at Hogwarts at the same time as Narcissa. Although Sirius wasn't as enthused about Slytherin as the rest of his family, it came as a surprise to everyone when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor.

In the beginning, Sirius could still talk to her openly about how ridiculous his parents were to write to Dumbledore to demand a resorting for him. They were both careful not to touch upon topics that might trigger inter-house conflicts of interests. But Sirius took pride in his identity as a Gryffindor and his demeanor turned patronizing as time went on. Their friendship was undermined eventually as Rainzzi turned distant in her behavior too and unintentionally drew closer to her fellows of the same house. However, despite their ostensible enmity, they both managed to treat each other with respect in the rare occasions when they must interact.

At one point during their discussion, Narcissa glanced over and interchanged a grimace with Rainzzi and wrinkled her nose at Sirius. The rest of the lesson passed in peace with their sparse, scholarly conversation. Sirius appeared amicable and Rainzzi eventually relaxed. But still, neither of them had made any personal references to suggest that they had ever been friends.

"Seems we've to see a lot of each other this year," Sirius stated at the end of the lesson.

"I'm not grateful for that," Rainzzi said at once.

Sirius smirked at her sarcasm. "Anyway, grateful or not, meet me on Friday night in the library," he said, collecting his books.

Rainzzi looked at him unsurely, "What don't we quickly get this over with? We can divide the work and work on it separately."

"Meet me on Friday night in the library," repeated Sirius dismissively, "See you."

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A/N: PLEASE REVIEW and let me know what you think of the chapter, please!


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I am terribly sorry for not updating for so long, there's no excuse. SORRY! _

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****Chapter 3****  
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Sirius watched silently as James ran a hand in his rumbled hair and fumbled around among the official-looking portfolios with the other, all the while talking to Remus solemnly.

"Is this what you're looking for?" Sirius shoved a neglected file towards his friend who took it without a word.

Being made the Head Boy alongside Lily as Head Girl, James had been all serious and engrossed in preparing for the first Prefects' meeting in a bid to impress her. And he was questioning Remus about the prefect mechanism exhaustively.

In fact, this plan, which aimed to persuade Lily that James could be a mature and serious intellectual if he wanted to, was Peter's idea. To be truthful, Sirius had never expected anything of the sort from him, not that he thought him incapable though.

Rather, throughout the late years, Sirius had grown consistently fond of the last Marauder, whom was regarded as the tag-along by everyone. Sirius had thought the reputation well-earned at first, and if James hadn't been so keen to act the big brother, he would never have befriended Peter. But getting to know Peter better, Sirius must agree with James and Remus that he had his own redeeming qualities; he might lack inborn intelligence in certain areas, but at least he sought to overcome them by diligence.

"_Expecto_ _Patronus_," Peter murmured, flicking his wand in the wrong direction behind the book of spells.

Sirius watched it as he continued, repulsing the urge to correct him of the wrong flicking of wand as he was sure Peter would figure it out by himself at the end. He glanced at the wall-mounted clock in the Library. A minute to nine. He grabbed his Divination textbook and left the table he shared with his friend in seek of a vacant one.

From the corners of his eyes, Sirius could feel an average-looking blonde glancing at him hopefully and eagerly at the same time, like a cat that had just spotted her new prey.

As the trademark good look was something he had inherited from his parents, Sirius had never really felt special about it, yet he couldn't possibly pretend as if he was not conscious of the attention he got for the appearance.

While his admirers could fill a small classroom, he could quite sufficiently count out his past dates with his fingers. Just three, not many really, and not exactly what others expected of him. And oddly, his relationships with this handful of girls were all short in duration… They had willingly submitted themselves to him but he returned their passion with remote interest. The pretence of single-mindedness in one single girl was simply too tiresome for him, although it's not like he wished to be dating a few at one time, girls and flirtations had just never been among the top in his priority. He didn't have time to spare for them. Yet he found entertainment in testing the strengths of his charisma more often than not.

He walked past the blonde. He knew her in person; she was one of his ex-girlfriends. O_n the count of three, _he thought.

Among his admirers, Alison Harvey wasn't the only one deep in love with him. Quite a few girls in Hogwarts were really crazy over him while the others just idolised him. All the same, he kept them all in leading-strings at his feet.

_Three._

He had amused himself with their passion, which he was unconscious of doing at the beginning, but it soon became obvious. He could just feel the sweetness in being the sole source, the autocratic and irresponsible cause of greatest joy and profoundest pain to another, and they were like in his hands.

_Two._

It amused him to arouse their hopes and then their fears, to turn them round his finger skilfully (James used to call it knocking their heads together), while they eagerly submitted to him. Whether they had never dreamt of offering resistance or their resistance was in vain he didn't know.

_One._

He wouldn't deny he quite liked Alison, for she was the most resolute one, and she, in turn, became the permanent victim of his charms. He played cat-and-mouse with her. He flirted with her, and she was all agitation and rapture; then he would suddenly thrust her away, and she dared not go near him…for a while…before the vicious cycle began again.

_There you go._

"Hey, Sirius," said Alison cheerfully as she caught up with him in the aisle. Sirius could see in the three seconds after his glance released her, she had brushed her hair.

"Yeah, Alison?"

Alison smiled skittishly and flipped her hair, emitting a suffocating smell of flower-scented shampoo. "I just thought I should say hi. You know, we haven't met each other for three solid months."

"We haven't, have we?" A_s if we met on a regular basis while at Hogwarts_. He glanced around the library carelessly, he could see Alison's friends gossiping not far away from them. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut short by Rainzzi Delanuit when she bumped into his shoulder quite the same way he had bumped into her a few days ago. A tiny smirk crept into his face, which Alison seemed to think was prompting her.

"If you don't mind, we can find a table and sit together," she pressed on, toying with his sleeve now, "to fill each other in with the happenings in summer." She jerked her head to the last vacant table while Rainzzi settled behind it. Furrowing, she looked around, eager to spot another unoccupied table which she could share with him without disturbance.

"Don't bother," said Sirius, shifting his weight from one leg to another so that Alison's hand slid off his sleeve. "I am meeting someone."

Hands in the pockets, he looked over at his Divination partner from the corners of his eyes to check if she had been, as he expected, glancing at them all along. But it seemed she hadn't. Either Rainzzi was really quick in turning away her attention, or she hadn't been in the least bit interested in what he was doing.

He met Alison's eyes squarely when she appraised his handsome face for a few silent seconds. If anyone thought they could read his mind just by fixing him in a penetrating stare, they couldn't be more wrong. "Oh, nevermind," she sighed, a little disappointed, and as if casually straightened herself in a businesslike way. "I'll just see you around."

Suppressing the urge to smirk at her look, Sirius just nodded. He didn't even look twice at her before turning, but somehow he didn't feel half as entertained as he should have been.

Accidentally-on-purpose, he kicked over a chair on his way to the back of the Library, terrifying a bunch of first-years and making several others to glance up at him. Still, it wasn't until his tall frame cast a shadow over her and he cleared his throat that his Divination partner took notice of him.

"Finished flirting?" Rainzzi's face was unnaturally dispassionate as she looked up from the silver quill she had been twirling.

"A bit anti-socializing, aren't you?" said Sirius from his considerable height.

"If you call that socializing, yes."

"Has Pureblood Narcissa spent quite some time on slandering me?" Sirius chortled, settling on the chair across her.

Rainzzi gave him a hard once-over. "You have hardly ever been the subject of our conversations."

"Are you trying to tell me that you didn't already know anything about me running away from home?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I may have a rough picture of what happened," admitted Rainzzi truthfully and turned her attention back to the book lying open on the table.

He reached over and stamped his outspread fingers on the pages she was reading, blocking view of the passages. "Don't you want to know the score?"

"Are we here for the Divination project or not?"

"Come on," Sirius said softly, "you don't need the grades. This is our final year in Hogwarts and war is looming. We need to take sides. Don't you think we should spend more time on considering thoroughly what kind of a future we want to lead instead of studying?" he added with a grimace.

"Yes," Rainzzi rounded her eyes and gave a sarcastic laugh. "But you made it clear that we have already taken sides when we were sorted into different houses."

"Once we are out of Hogwarts, this house identity is not important anymore," Sirius said, glancing around the Library. "As far as I am concerned, you still resemble the Princess R that I used to know at times."

In spite of herself, Rainzzi smiled in embarrassment and blushed slightly at the mention of nickname that Princeps had made for her when she was still a kid. That was her first sincere smile that he had seen in a while. For a split moment, Sirius could really relate the girl in front of him to the brown-haired little girl that rolled her eyes and chortled at the slightest hint of humor.

"Princeps was a good Auror," said Sirius quietly as her shy smile turned bitter.

Rainzzi chewed her lips, "He saved a lot of lives. But clearly he wasn't good enough to save his own."

"He was a really good one," repeated Sirius, meeting her doubtful glances squarely to show that he wasn't just saying so to appease her.

"I heard that Mr. Head Boy Potter has been admitted to the Auror program with early decisions and you haven't," said Rainzzi after a long pause, "I suppose it's Walburga Black's doings?"

"Either hers or my father's. They both have Ministry influence," Sirius shrugged, "but I won't take the rejection as a 'no'."

"As expected."

"You remember Uncle Alphard?" Sirius leaned forward on the table. He carried on at her blank look, "The one who works in St. Mungo's? He told me that the management at St. Mungo's has been made aware by Dumbledore of your balanced distinctions in Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology. They are going to give you a conditional offer."

"I suppose they're in dire demand of Healers and Mediwizards," Rainzzi shrugged, it occurred to him that she wasn't at all enthusiastic about the occupation that used to be her dreams. "They haven't offered me anything yet, but if they do, I am going to turn them down. I don't see any values in the Healer occupation anymore, especially when people die everyday in the blink of an eye under jets of green lights."

"Perhaps I should introduce Uncle Alphard to you, he'd love to explain a Healer's values to you," said Sirius.

"I thought you hate your entire family," said Rainzzi, surprised. "But you seem to love this Uncle Alphard."

"Uncle Alphard is an exception. He is one of my mother's younger brothers. He never takes a real interest in me until I… er… showed tendency to defy my parents. He has been very distant with the family. My lovely mother used to call him a 'medical freak' as he has devoted his life to the Healer occupation and is too busy to get married. I met him very infrequently but every time when we meet, he seems to be amused by my rebellious acts and eggs me on for more. He went as far as to reveal my mother and father's weaknesses to me," said Sirius with a mischievous grin. "Uncle Alphard and Andromeda are the only ones from the family that I am still in touch with. But Andromeda's name has already been blasted off the Black's family tree, so she doesn't really count as family. But then again, I suppose my name must have been blasted too."

"So you're not even talking to Regulus?" Rainzzi said accusingly, knitting her brows together.

"Not anymore."

"He adores you," Rainzzi said with indignation. "You should know that when you ran away from your parents, you abandoned him as well."

"He shares my parents' overweening pride in their pureblood heritage," said Sirius dryly. "Naturally he doesn't adore me."

"That's sad," whispered Rainzzi, her unreadable expression. "He's your family."

"I wish I had a family, but I don't," Sirius stared askance at her and lowered his voice. "You know what kind of people my parents are. They aren't silly enough to outspeak their support for Voldemort, but they obviously thought Voldemort has the right idea for the purification of the wizarding race. The way they look at the purges with their cold-heartedness gives me the chill."

Rainzzi looked at him difficultly, "I think that they are just a bit... extreme."

"Extreme is an understatement," Sirius raised his voice, "they are outright terrorists. They take pride in their ancient pureblood heritage just because they have nothing else to be proud of. Their ultimate 'noble' mission of eliminating the muggle-borns is nothing more than an excuse to safeguard their vested interest and social status within the wizarding world. Believe me, most of them are hardly more skilled than the half-bloods and muggle-borns that they despise."

"I thought we all agree you have inherited your father's brains," Rainzzi reminded him casually.

"Yes," said Sirius with a look of irritation, "but his brilliance is consumed with ideas of ridding the wizarding world of what he calls the 'inferior races'."

"The same manner as yours is consumed with ideas of eliminating 'Snivellus' in the most brutal ways?"

"If I really mean serious harm to him, he would have been dead long before now." Sirius smiled darkly as he remembered he could actually have killed Snape had James not appeared in the last minute and pulled Snape away from the Shrieking Shack. "Rain," Sirius hissed, pressing on, "I thought you don't agree with my parents' belief?"

Rainzzi chewed her lips and eyed him with caution but other than that, she didn't make a response. She backed away a bit as he unintentionally leaned forward on the table. "Why are you so desperate to get my views, Sirius?"

"You seem to take sides with my parents."

"As I said, I think they have extreme values," she said, disregarding his look of disproval. "The purity of blood is more a fact than a belief. I mean, we are born by wizards and witches, and our bloodline goes a long way back to the history of wizardry. Naturally we are purer as wizards and witches. This purity should go without saying. Boasting is low, proving it is even more so."

That sounded like something Princeps would say, Sirius thought, but it was difficult to miss the self-assurance in her words though her tone was mild. Rainzzi glared at him self-consciously as his stare lingered on her face but she was soon distracted by something beyond him. Sirius followed her glance and found Alison searching as if coincidentally behind the nearest shelves. Shrugging slightly, he turned to look at Rainzzi again and returned her pointed, disdainful smile with an arrogant one.

"Excuse me." A foreign accent addressing both of them broke their mute communication. Sirius looked up; it took him a few seconds to recognize the speaker as the Drumstrang transfer student. Tsepeth appeared far less agreeable in close-up with his pointed nose and small eyes, and he looked far older than the rest of the students, which made him somehow incompatible with the studious environment of the library.

"Yes?" said Sirius helpfully.

"I am wondering if I can share the table with you, since every other table seems to be occupied."

Sirius gestured to the empty chairs on their right. "These seats are vacant."

"Thanks," Tsepesh walked past Rainzzi. "Hey, you are…Rainzzi?" he asked suddenly as he settled in the seat besides her, looking at her tie and seemed to be remembering something.

Rainzzi nodded plainly, grasping the silver quill and rearranging the materials on the table, "Yes, I am. We've been introduced last night in the Slytherin common room." Sirius thought he heard a note of anxiety in her voice.

Tsepeth turned to Sirius curiously, "And you are…?"

"Sirius Black," Sirius answered, surreptitiously shooting Rainzzi a look.

"Sirius Black," Tsepesh echoed in a whisper under his breath and furrowed. Then with a courteous smile he started, "Are you and Narcissa…"

"Nope," said Sirius hoarsely, cutting off the question, "We just happen to share the same surname."

Rainzzi made a sardonic smile. Sirius was under the impression that she kind of loved it when he was reminded that they all came from the same sort of families.

Tsepesh's small eyes traveled from Rainzzi to Sirius and back curiously before starting again conversationally, "So, you're working on the Divination project?" Tsepesh asked. "So who is the historical figure you've got here?"

"Dracula. What about you?"

Tsepesh, who had been directing the questions at Sirius, stopped spreading his belongings on the table, twisted his neck quickly to Rainzzi and looked at her. "You mean Vlad Dracula?"

Rainzzi nodded, a little taken aback.

Tsepesh's stare stayed on her for a short while. "He is an interesting figure," he forced a smile. "Now, please excuse me." He pushed his chair back and strode towards the shelves.

Sirius interchanged a look with Rainzzi then looked at the picture of Dracula, puzzled.

* * *

Midnight had fallen when Rainzzi left the Library that night, after three hours of being trapped together with Sirius with little progress on the Divination project, but curiously she wasn't at all exhausted. The path back to the Slytherin Common Room was quite deserted, and it was so dark that she could hardly see where she was heading. She walked along it slowly, taking as much time as possible. And her footsteps eventually faded away in front of staircases leading to the portrait of the Slytherin common room. She stood there for a moment, pondering over the conversation she had with Sirius.

Rainzzi had been suspicious of his unusual amicability in the beginning and she had treated him with caution and doubt. But as their conversation went on, it became obvious to her where his friendliness was coming from…Sirius looked eager to reconfirm that after all these estranged years, they still held identical views towards the fundamental cause that had turned him away from the rest of his family. The way he saw the need for a reconfirmation was an insult to her faith but all the same, Rainzzi welcomed it as a nice change and if she must be honest with herself, she was greatly flattered by his seemingly genuine interest in her views and efforts in maintaining the unreserved interflow.

Rabastan Lestrange was leaning on the pillar next to the Slytherin portrait when the corridor where the common room was located came into her view. He had his arms crossed in front of his check and was stamping his foot on the floor idly. Rainzzi thought of making a detour just when he became aware of her arrival. "Hey," he said, his expression deadpan.

"Hey," said Rainzzi casually, "What're you doing here?"

"I noticed that you're missing," said Rabastan, "Where have you been?"

"Library," she said, clutching the books tighter in her arms.

Rabastan shook his head incredulously, "Have you been avoiding me?"

"No, of course," said Rainzzi quickly with a small smile.

Rabastan grinned slightly, stamping his foot on the hard floor for one last time before he reached out to pull her closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. Feeling his breath on her face, Rainzzi stiffened as he leaned in and pressed his cold lips on hers lightly. Rainzzi had missed him during the summer but the touch of him seemed to have triggered a reflex effect of arousing her guilty feeling.

Rainzzi had spent the previous summer in Princeps's as she usually did after her brother had acquired a house of his own. But on the night when Princeps was found dead, she had been staying with Rabastan in the Lestranges' vacation villa at his out-of-the-blue invitation. It was three in the morning when her dad summoned her back to Princeps' house, back to where she should have been staying in. From the moment she knelt down crying beside Princeps' body, the thought that Princeps might have lived had she stayed behind with him had been haunting her to no ends. Although Rabastan had argued that she couldn't possibly have saved her brother's life even if she had stayed with him, the mixture of guilt and grief that she left Princeps dying in solitary was way too much for her to shrug off. She pulled apart from him as he deepened the kiss.

"What are we now?" asked Rabastan wearily, still breathing on her face.

"Friends," Rainzzi murmured. "We've had that discussion before and we reached a consensus, remember?"

"You said you want a break," said Rabastan, in a rising cold voice that used to give her the creeps. "A break is a break. You can't keep me waiting forever."

Rainzzi glanced at the guy that she had once been very scared of. Compared with Lucius Malfoy, Rabastan Lestrange was an introverted and esoteric person and he used to wear that chilly unreadable expression of his everywhere. Though both of them were sorted into Slytherins, she just related him to Rodolphus Lestrange as his younger brother, besides that fact, her knowledge of him would be essentially nil. When Rodolphus was still at Hogwarts, he was notorious as one of the biggest bullies, people, even Slytherins, who infuriated him would have hell to pay for. Although Rabastan was much more reserved than his brother, Rainzzi made sure there was no reason their paths should cross.

At first, Rainzzi thought he had a crush on Narcissa when he seemed to have taken a sudden interest in spending time with them and she used to feel uneasy under his cold, golden eyes and avoided being in his presence. But as the years unfolded, he became open for his affection for Rainzzi and made sure that it was known to the Slytherin population. She had rejected him and was annoyed at times by his possessive behaviors but he was persistent in his silent way. Every now and then he would break out from his cold shell and demonstrate rare fits of uncharacteristic passion and fancy to her that made her perceive him in a new light. They drew consistently closer to each other until they started going out in their fifth year.

"I need some more time to figure my way out," whispered Rainzzi.

"Make sure that you don't take too long," said Rabastan, "because I won't be waiting forever."

Rainzzi nodded quietly, shamefaced. "Goodnight, Rabastan." She pecked him on the cheek, not daring to meet his eyes as she did and proceeded to the Slytherin common room.

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_A/N: I am not sure if those who read this fic before is still reading it, I really hope you are, although it was totally my fault that you might have turned away from me " (16 months of nothingness is unforgivable, I know…) But please forgive me, do leave me a review if you chance to come back and read this. Please give me some comments because I really treasure what you guys think I promise I will update as long as someone is still reading…_

_And just to let you know, the next update on my agenda is Regulus Alphard Black, please read it too if you have a deep interest in Regulus as I do. I think you'll find some commonalities with me there:)_

**Once again, PLEASE REVIEW**


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